Our naked bridge

Imagine what it was like to drive downtown the other day and find our most iconic bridge standing there, right in public, stark naked.   Quite simply, it was a shock.

It wasn't the kind of shock you want the the little children to turn their heads away from, because this was not that kind of nudity.  This was the kind of shock you feel when something utterly familiar has suddenly changed.  In fact you didn't even know just how familiar it was to you until it changed.  Overnight.  Just like that.

This naked little bridge is known as Centennial Bridge because it was constructed in 1997, the year GroveAtopia turned 100.  It is not a "genuine" covered bridge because covered bridge purists like to see the bridges where they originally stood, and preferably still carrying traffic.  But it was constructed from timbers salvaged from two covered bridges that were taken down, so that gives it some genuiness, now doesn't it?

Genuine or not, the Centennial Bridge is probably the most photographed of our bridges because it is right downtown and because it is a pedestrian bridge.  It's smaller than covered bridges that were built for vehicles, and in some ways that makes it even more genuine than its bigger cousins in the surrounding countryside, because nearly everyone sees this bridge every day and most have probably walked across it at least once.  Okay, I just met someone who has lived here all his life and has never walked across it, but I'm sure he's the only one.

So just what is our bridge doing standing there naked in the coldest part of winter?  

Well it's actually good news.  The bridge was looking worse for the wear, so the Lions Club went in one Saturday and took off the siding.  It will be replaced by new siding, and the lights inside and out will be upgraded.  Plus the little window boxes full of flowers that originally hung outside each little window will be returned too.

The whole project is supposed to be completed by the end of February.  

In the meantime here is your chance to see the outside of the bridge's insides.  In case you wanted to know, when you look at the bridge now, what you are seeing are its Howe Trusses.  

And you can still walk across it even though it's stark naked.